Cocaine sparks euphoria and heightens your senses.

For most casual cocaine users, stimulation belies the drug's consumption. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), cocaine sparks euphoria and mental alertness, especially to sight, touch, and sound. The faster the drug is absorbed by the blood stream, the more intense the effect and the shorter it lasts.

It triggers the part of your brain responsible for addictive behavior.

University of Michigan neuropsychologists found repeated cocaine use results in a hyper-responsive dopamine system, making the drug hard for the brain to ignore. Dopamine, the chemical in the brain responsible for just about any addictive behavior, is triggered when one is engaged in any deeply pleasurable activity.

It reduces grey matter in the brain.

A study released by University of Cambridge researchers revealed the drug may age key parts of the brain at an accelerated rate. Co-author Karen Ersche noted users lose grey matter--which help control memory, decision-making and attention--at almost double the rate of non-users.

It depletes the protein that triggers pleasure and leads to depression.

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Chronic cocaine users also run a higher risk of depression and the drug will have diminishing returns over time.

According to a 2009 study conducted by the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center and the University of Michigan, the drug, over time, shrinks levels of VMAT2, the protein responsible for making dopamine in the brain.

It enhances sex and then destroys your drive.

It stifles your appetite, leading to weight loss.

Flickr/Santiago Alvarez

There's data behind the claim that cocaine can make you skinny. Using lab rats as research subjects, researchers at the University of Birmingham found use of the drug delayed feeding as well as the number of meals consumed overall.

It destroys the inside of your nose and causes respiratory problems.

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Cocaine is toxic to the nasal tissue it passes through before it's absorbed into the bloodstream. The drug itself numbs the pain, but can cause redness, a running nose, and eventually septum damage.